Valved suction catheter

Abstract

A closed system suction catheter assembly has a valve which controls suction applied at the patient end of the assembly. The valve has a barrel with a bore through it which is rotatable in a housing between an open position, in which the bore is aligned the inlet and outlet of the valve and a closed position, in which it is out of alignment. The barrel has teeth on its outer surface forming a pinion which are engaged by teeth on the underside of a slidable switch. Sliding of the switch rotates the barrel and controls flow through the valve.

What we claim is: 
     
       1. A suction catheter assembly comprising a suction catheter and a valve connected to the catheter to control flow of fluid along the catheter, the valve comprising: a housing, the housing having an inlet and an outlet; a valve member having a fluid passageway therethrough; means mounting the valve member with the housing for rotatable movement about an axis transverse to the fluid passageway; a manually-actuable member; means mounting the manually-actuable member for linear movement relative to the housing along a path transverse to the axis of rotation of the valve member, wherein the valve member and the manually-actuable member have respective contacting surfaces such that displacement of the manually-actuable member effects rotation of the valve member, and wherein the manually-actuable member is movable from a first position, in which the fluid passageway through the valve member is aligned with the inlet and outlet of the housing so that fluid can flow through the valve, to a second position, in which the fluid passageway is out of alignment with at least one of the inlet and outlet so that fluid is prevented from flowing through the valve. 
     
     
       2. A suction catheter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the contacting surfaces each have teeth that engage each other. 
     
     
       3. A suction catheter assembly according to claim 2, wherein the teeth are provided on a rack on the manually-actuable member and by a pinion on the valve member. 
     
     
       4. A suction catheter assembly according to claim 3, wherein the pinion is formed around a circumference of the valve member. 
     
     
       5. A suction catheter assembly according to claim 3, wherein the pinion is a pinion gear at one end of the valve member. 
     
     
       6. A suction catheter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the said inlet and outlet are axially aligned, and wherein the manually-actuable member is movable parallel to the axis of the inlet and outlet. 
     
     
       7. A suction catheter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the said inlet and outlet are axially aligned, and wherein the manually-actuable member is movable transversely of the axis of the inlet and outlet. 
     
     
       8. A suction catheter assembly according to claim 7, wherein the manually-actuable member includes a thumb pad at one end such that by pushing down on the thumb pad the manually-actuable member is moved down and transversely of the axis of the inlet and outlet. 
     
     
       9. A suction catheter assembly comprising a suction catheter and a valve connected to the catheter to control flow of fluid along the catheter, the valve comprising: a housing, the housing having an inlet, an outlet and a recess of circular section, the inlet and outlet opening into opposite sides of the recess; a valve member, the valve member being of circular section and having a fluid passageway extending diametrically therethrough; means mounting the valve member in said recess for rotatable movement about an axis transverse to the fluid passageway; a manually-actuable member; means mounting the manually-actuable member for linear movement relative to the housing along a path transverse to the axis of rotation of the valve member, wherein the valve member and the manually-actuable member have respective contacting surfaces such that displacement of the manually-actuable member effects rotation of the valve member, and wherein the manually-actuable member is movable from a first position, in which the fluid passageway through the valve member is aligned with the inlet and outlet of the housing so that fluid can flow through the valve, to a second position, in which the fluid passageway is out of alignment with both inlet and outlet so that fluid is prevented from flowing through the valve.